Ndidi shines as Leicester beat Sunderland

Wilfred Ndidi put in another credible performance for Leicester as they recorded a 2-0 win over Sunderland in the Premier League on Tuesday.

Goals by Islam Slimani and Jamie Vardy were enough to continue the Foxes’ rise up the table and Sunderland’s continued stay at the bottom of the table. Ahmed Musa was not listed for the game.

Leicester were coming off an impressive win over Stoke last weekend while Sunderland were coming off of a loss, and the stage was set for them to do battle, with both sides in danger of being relegated at the end of the season.

But it wasn’t what one would have anticipated by way of purpose and intent, very few chances created by either side and they both seemed comfortable being cautious, but the Foxes did have a slight advantage in possession, but nothing meaningful came out of it.

Sunderland on the hand, looked determined not to let the in-form Leicester get behind their defence, with an intermittent threat to unsettle the Foxes’ backline, but the first real chance of the match didn’t come until the 43rd minute, when Demarai Gray showed a great individual effort to unleash a powerful shot, which was saved by Sunderland goalie, Jordan Pickett.

Just like the first period, very little by way of chances created in the opening exchanges of the second period, with the game looking destined to end in a stalemate with the way both teams were playing.

The first opportunity of this half didn’t come until the 63rd minute, when a Robert Huth header looked set to go in through the bottom corner, but Pickford was on hand to make yet another good save for the Black Cats to keep the scoreline goalless.

But all that would change six minutes later, when a fine cross by Marc Albrighton found Slimani, who rose highest to slot his header into the back of the Sunderland net to put Leicester in front, much to the disappointment of their opponents.

After conceding, Sunderland looked to up the ante by putting more pressure on Leicester, and it almost paid off when substitute Victor Anichebe hit the woodwork with a fine effort. However, they would rue that miss moments later when Vardy slotted past Pickford after a quick Leicester counter-attack to make it 2-0.

At that point, it was game over because there was nothing the Black Cats could do to get back into the game and that was how it ended with Leicester continuing their good form under Craig Shakespeare.